The Ola and Perry-Casa school districts decided Friday in separate school board meetings to merge into what will be known as the Ola School District of Yell, Perry and Conway counties.

The merger will be effective July, 1, 2004, if approved by the Arkansas State Board of Education.

The Perry-Casa School Board voted Friday afternoon to petition for annexation by Ola. The Ola School Board also approved the action Friday during a special meeting, according to Ola superintendent Earl Jamison.

Meetings were held previously between Jamison and Perry-Casa superintendent Sherry Holliman to discuss the matter. The two had been speaking with one another for a couple of months, and Jamison stated that Holliman said she felt now was the time to talk seriously about the two districts merging.

Perry-Casa has approximately 107 student in kindergarten through 12th grade. Jamison said the low number had made it "too difficult to fund a full-year curriculum" and led to the decision to seek the merger, Jamison said. "As far as Ola's position, I'm glad that we're able to help."

Currently, there are 520 students in kindergarten through 12th grade at Ola, which will put the merged district at about 630 students.

The state of Arkansas faces a Jan. 4, 2004, deadline to come up with a plan to provide equal educational opportunities to all children. Gov. Mike Huckabee last year offered a package of reforms that included consolidation of all school districts with less than 1,500 students, but he has met with considerable resistance.

More recent proposals have suggested several alternatives, including a minimum district of as few as 500 students or a minimum size for high schools of 375 students.

Huckabee has proposed a Dec. 8 special session to address the issue.

High school at Ola

If the Ola and Perry-Casa merger is approved, high school classes (grades 7-12) will stay on the Ola campus. The district will not have to build any new structures at this time, said Jamison. The districts are currently contiguous, but the Ola schools are closest to the Casa campus.

"Some of the Perry-Casa district is in Conway and Yell counties, but most is in Perry County," Jamison explained.

It has not yet been determined if the districts will have to hire or lay off any faculty or administrators, Jamison said, adding that he hopes to be able to place everyone in the new district.

The elementary school, kindergarten through sixth grade, will remain at the Perry-Casa site as well as its principal as long as it is feasible or at least for the first year based on Casa population numbers, according to Jamison.

The superintendent position will depend on the state board of education. Jamison has one year remaining on his contract.

The petition sent to the state asks for a seven-member local school board. If granted, district zones will have to be redrawn by the Secretary of State's office and new school board elections would be scheduled for September 2004.

The Ola district has also received assurances that incentive money would still be received from the state, said Jamison.

The superintendent added that the annexation had been public knowledge for some time in the district, and feedback from Ola residents has been positive.

"Ola residents are delighted and are looking forward to working with the people in the Perry-Casa School District and are wanting to make a district everyone will be proud of," Jamison said.